NAR: Three Texas cities among best for millennials during pandemic

​WASHINGTON – Three Texas cities have landed on the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) list of the ten markets with​ favorable conditions for millennial homebuyers during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Austin-Round Rock, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land all took spots on the list. 

"Record-low mortgage rates have improved housing affordability, bringing more buyers into the market, and multiple offers for starter homes could become common in these metro areas," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "With relatively better employment conditions and a strong presence of millennials in these markets, more new-home construction will be required to fully satisfy the housing demand as the economy reopens."

In the largest 100 metros, housing affordability increased by 9 percent in April 2020 compared with a year earlier, according to NAR. Year over year, affordability grew 22 percent in April in Dallas, while affordability grew 14 percent and 11 percent in Houston and Austin, respectively​​. 

Available inventory fell in all three Texas metros with Austin seeing the largest drop at 13 percent. 

Dallas has the largest share of millennial civilian residents of all top ten metros at 21 percent. Austin and Houston’s civilian populations are made up of 20 percent and 19 percent millennials, respectively. 

The top metros also had a lower share of people working in the industries most affected by the lockdown. Houston, Austin, and Dallas have 19, 20, and 21 percent, respectively, of their employed population in the most affected industries.

In the largest 100 metro areas, jobs declined by 13 percent in April 2020 compared with a year earlier.​ Dallas and Houston nonfarm employment fell 8 percent year over year, and Austin jobs fell 9 percent.

Other metros in the top ten, in alphabetical order, are:

• Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa;

• Durham-Chapel Hill-Raleigh, N.C;

• Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson;

• Omaha, Neb./Council Bluffs, Iowa;

• Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale;​

• Portland, Ore./Vancouver, Wash.; and

• Salt Lake City.

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